The Clinton Community College Diversity Committee will host an Occupational Diversity Panel on Monday, October 15. The Occupational Diversity Panel will highlight people that serve in non-traditional roles throughout our community. In addition, Clinton Community College Instructor Shawn Hamerlinck will review income stratification as it relates to gender in the City of Clinton prior to the panel discussion.
The Occupational Diversity Panel Discussion begins at 11:15 a.m. in the CCC Auditorium, 1000 Lincoln Blvd., Clinton. A soup lunch will be provided by CCC Student Senate. At 12:10 p.m., the program will begin with Shawn Hamerlinck presenting his findings on zip code discrepancies. Hamerlinck has been tracking and teaching this for the past 15 years. His graduate thesis at Loyola University, Chicago, IL is in gentrification of abandoned working-class neighborhoods.
At 12:30 p.m., a panel will discuss their non-traditional roles. Questions posed to the panelists include:
- Why did you choose this profession knowing it was not the norm?
- Are you treated differently in your profession, in College? If so, how?
- Tell us about awkward moments you’ve had with co-workers/clients/customers because of you being the gender you are.
- The Lilly Ledbetter Act was the first bill signed by President Obama when he took office. (It Amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act and calls for equal pay.) Why has it failed?
- There will be time for questions from the audience.
Serving as Mistress of Ceremonies is Adrienne Braden. Adrienne is originally from Tennessee and has been in the Quad Cities for 5 years. She works in the Human Resources Department at Eastern Iowa Community College as the HR Coordinator. Her college degree is in Accounting, from Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Panel Participants include:
- James “Jim” Bull – Stay-At-Home Dad
Jim was a stay-at-home dad in 2015 (with Mia) and again from Jan 2017 – July 2018 (Mia and Wilson).
After the plant Jim was employed at shutdown after 7 years in December of 2014 he decided to take a break and work from home as a part-time accountant and full-time father. Jim wanted to spend time with his then 2-year-old daughter, Mia. After a year as a full-time tax accountant / financial planner for farmers, he took another year-and-a-half of my life to be a part-time accountant and full-time father to Mia, 5, and Wilson, 1 ½.
Jim and his wife been married for almost 10 years. He has been an Accountant for 20 years. He has also held various accounting positions including an Assistant Controller at Textron, Inc. in Decorah, Iowa and Finance Manager at Ashford University. He currently proudly serves as the Accounting Director at the YWCA here in Clinton, Iowa.
- Justin Nylin – Nurse
Justin Nylin is a Clinton native where he graduated from Clinton High School in 2009. Justin has worked at Mercy in Clinton for 10 years and has been a nurse for the last five. He received his Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 2013; And most recently graduated with a Master’s of Science in Nursing degree from Chamberlain University in Chicago, Illinois. He has worked in Critical Care, as a house supervisor, and recently took a job running daily operations for a new Ambulatory Care Unit at Mercy.
- Will Wiesner – Elementary Teacher
Will Wiesner is a Clinton native that graduated from Ashford University with a Bachelors in Elementary Education in 2010. Since then he has engaged hundreds of students with his creativity and out of the box thinking. Will started out as a kindergarten teacher, then spent time instilling the love of reading as an elementary teacher librarian. Before attending the University of Iowa to complete a Talented and Gifted endorsement he spent a year teaching third grade. For the past few years, he has been enriching students in grades K-8 as a Talented and Gifted Teacher for the Clinton Community School District.
- Hannah Johnson – Production Engineer at ADM
Hannah graduated from Iowa State University in 2017 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. She is originally from Cedar Rapids, but now works for ADM in Clinton as a Production Engineer in the Millhouse department. Hannah has always loved math and science and wanted to understand how things work and why. She wanted to pursue a career that would let her use these skills to actually solve real-life problems and make a difference in the world, which engineering makes possible.
- Michelle Allmendinger – Coach, Athletic Director & Assistant Sports Information Director
Dr. Michelle Allmendinger is a Moline native who recently returned to EICC. Michelle spent the past four years at Michigan State University earning her PhD in Higher Education Administration. Her research interests there included ethics and decision-making in higher education administration as well as issues of college readiness/transition to college (advanced placement, dual enrollment, developmental education, etc.) and issues of campus climate, student engagement, and sense of belonging for graduate students. Before returning to school full-time, Michelle served as the Athletic Director and Assistant Dean of Students (for student activities) at Scott Community College for four and a half years. She also taught, as adjunct faculty, in the Honors Program at SCC. Dr. Allmendinger has worked in education for approximately 20 years beginning as a high school English teacher and part-time college coach. She received her Master’s in Sport Sociology and Sport Psychology and coached college athletics (women’s tennis and softball) full-time for 6 years before moving into administration.
- Female Truck Drivers Erica Springer – current student in Program, and Rachel Goodrich – Graduate and has been driving for a couple of years.
For more information, contact Mardell Mommsen at 563-244-7001 or mmommsen@eicc.edu.